Phrases

the eye of a needle

The Christian bible quotes Jesus as saying it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven; or then there's the Irish saying: ‘There are no pockets in a shroud’.

A supersized prole will pass through the eye of a needle before anyone not in the Party will be admitted to heaven.

I mean, if a camel can pass through the eye of a needle, anything's possible, right?

a needle in a haystack

However, that would be nearly as impossible as finding a needle in a haystack.

Unfortunately, we are looking for a needle in a haystack and you cannot hope to be able to prevent any such outrage as this.

He walked bulls through china shops, contrived an actual change of horses in mid-stream during an election campaign and, to publicise a piece of real estate, spent 10 days searching for a needle in a haystack.

Origin

Old English nǣdl, of Germanic origin, is related to Dutch naald, and German Nadel, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin nere ‘to spin’ and Greek nēma ‘thread’. The colloquial use of the verb in the sense ‘irritate, annoy’ dates from the late 19th century.